Another Universe: An Untold Story
by Mrowrkat98
Summary: Next chapter up! Lots of good fun with our good 'ole friends. Here's an idea: don't make Zeus angry.
1. My name is April

Okay, it drove me nuts that most Everworld fics were just slash and mature content and all that jazz, and right off the bat I want to let you know that this isn't one of those.

I've never come across a crossover of Applegate's books, though I've never looked for one, so maybe it's a sort of original idea. Hope you like it.

Also, I'm looking for a beta for this. I'm a bit uneasy about using this cross, and it would really be great to have some help with it. Only one requirement for betas: you gotta be picky about it. :P

KIWI

Chapter 1

My name is April O'Brian.

I can't tell you what state I live in. Not because I don't want you to find me, but simply because I don't live there anymore. I live in Everworld, not America. And right now, my friends and I were in a pickle, a VERY big pickle. Sure, we'd freed Thor, Odin and Baldur. Yes, we allied ourselves with Merlin. THE Merlin. We finally had Loki on our side, after running from him and his elephant of a wolf-son, Fernir for what seemed like forever. The Olympian gods would most likely help us if we could get them to stop fighting each other for a while. However, Hel really, really wanted to kill us, or worse, add us to her sick little chamber of people who should be dead that continued to live. The people whose decaying bodies paved the entrance to her sickening underground home. And we can't forget the fairy folk of course, whom we stole back Nidhoggr's trinkets from. Only a trillionth of his gigantic treasure, but still, they didn't really like us.

And you ask, "SAY WHAT?"

I'm getting to it.

My friends David, Jalil, Christopher and I are stuck in Everworld now, the gateway being destroyed and all. By me. What, never heard of Everworld? I'm not surprised.

Well, way back when, I don't know exactly how long ago, all the ancient gods of the world decided that they were sick of boring old earth. So they decided to make their own universe with their own rules, one where they only had to think about it and they would grow about twenty feet so that they could squish someone under their foot. And then all the gods, Aztec, Viking, Egyptian, Roman AND Greek, African, Celtic and god knows what else all got up and moved, dragging along with them their share of humans, animals and legends, because let's face it, a god just isn't a god without someone to fall on their knees and quiver and beg for their lives… or deaths every time they see you. It depends on whom you're dealing with.

Me? I'm a religious person. One God's good enough for me. But, considering that I can't just wish the others away, I'll have to deal with them too.

So far in Everworld, I've been chained to a wall by Loki, gone to war with Vikings, killed the Aztec god, Huitzilocoptli, given blood to Galahad, only to see him die at the hand, or claw, of a dragon, and been through the realm of Hel, twice. As I mentioned before, I helped Nidhoggr, the way-too-big-to-exist-forget-about-fly dragon retrieve his little toys from the well-anticipated leprechauns, barely made it out of Ka Anor's fortress alive, watched Ganymede die, rode a flying horse, fought for the Greek gods of Olympus, been through Africa, where we found our dead Viking friends and destroyed a gigantic tree that joined their underworld to the above world using blood from my half-sister/witch/gateway, Senna. We went to Egypt to find Senna's mother, ended up in Neptune's underwater home, then escaped to old Ireland where we warred with Senna's army, consisting of a bunch of sociopaths from the real world with a hell of a lot of ammunition, and I killed her. Oh, and I played Mimi in Rent when the drama club put it on.

Up until when I killed Senna, we were poised between worlds. Me, David, Christopher and Jalil lived two lives at once, one in reality and one in Everworld. When we slept in Everworld, we crossed over into our normal lives, the ones not dominated by fear and Gods and ten-foot-tall wolves. It was a very nasty surprise for the halves of us that hadn't been dragged along with Senna to Everworld.

CNN Breaking News! April, you're in a war, about to die… again.

I've been inches from death a hell of a lot. The four of us are very hard to kill. Yet, after the death of the gateway, we were left with a choice: fade away in the real world and possibly be stuck in Everworld forever, or fade out of Everworld, leaving them to either die or find Senna's mom and use her to get to the real world, or the Old World as they call it here. Imagine Huitzilopoctli sitting up on top of a skyscraper, bussing up victims by elevator so he can tear out their hearts. Not good. We decided to stay.

Fingers snapped in front of my face.

"April, Everworld to April…" Jalil chanted.

I snapped from my trance. "Yeah?"

"Merlin's here."

We had been traveling a long time, since breaking back into Hel's realm to free Thor and Baldur, we'd been heading to mount Olympus, hopefully to convince the Gods there to unite, or at least stop trying to kill each other. Merlin was supposed to meet us there.

"Oh," I said brilliantly.

Merlin looked like he'd seen a ghost. Or maybe a better description would be he looked like a ghost. Even long ago when Loki had been advancing on Merlin, and we all thought it could have been his final moment, Merlin hadn't had fear such as this. Merlin knew his way around Everworld, and I highly doubt Ka Anor scared him in the slightest either. After all, Ka Anor eats gods, not wizards or mortals. He walked up to us quickly, and whispered, "He… he has a message for you."

"Who does?" David asked.

"Crayak."

Time stopped. Literally. I've seen gods do some crazy stuff, but never in my whole life have I seen time stop. Merlin stood frozen, still trying to walk to us. Trees that were blowing in the wind had simply stopped moving. Jalil groaned in frustration.

"Again, not possib-"

But he didn't finish what he was saying, because suddenly, we were before HIM.

I snapped my eyes to the floor automatically, feeling a presence. I knew what gods could do to you just by looking at them, and I didn't want to experience it. Even though instinct told me this wasn't a god, it also told me not to look at the horror before me, so I didn't. My eyes stared at the concrete floor, and I noticed something very strange out of the corner of my eye: bare feet. My friends and I had been wearing sneakers the whole time in Everworld. Slowly I looked up at the person with bare feet, still careful to keep my eyes away from the god-like creature at the front of the room. It was a boy with blonde hair. He was built strongand very handsome, but his eyes had this weary look, like he'd seen so much more than he should have by his age. He was only one or two years younger than me, and I knew that look, it was the look my friends and I had. He wore tight clothes, and his hair was matted and he looked exhausted, but still, he was handsome. His aged eyes narrowed. "Crayak," he said, hate vibrating with every letter.

JAKE 

The sound wasn't even spoken, yet it vibrated through the whole room, seeming to come from the outside room and inside me at the same time. It was more an accusation than it was a greeting, exactly the way Jake had said Crayak's name.

My vision extended beyond the boy, to the other five people around him. There was a dark-skinned girl with short hair and brown eyes, and a light-skinned girl with long blonde hair and blue eyes. Despite the fact that her clothes were torn and she looked exhausted, she still looked like a model. There was another boy, this one olive-skinned with black hair, then there was some sort of bird, maybe a hawk perched on the blonde girl's arm and a centaur, who stood farthest away from us. At least, I thought he was a centaur when I saw his muscular equine body and blue color, but I changed my mind when I saw his tail, which looked much like a scorpion's. That was an alien.

"What do you want, and where's your Drode?" The boy called Jake demanded.

"Um…Jake," the dark-skinned girl said, pointing to the four of us.

Jake turned in surprise, then tensed, ready to fight. Out of the corner of my eye I saw David do the same, reaching for the hilt of his sword. David the hero, always ready for battle.

"Oh no you don't," Christopher said from behind me, stepping forward to grab David's wrist.

Jalil nodded approvingly, then directed a question at the strangers. "Who are you guys?"

The blonde girl smiled menacingly, "That depends on how much you know. Are you yeerks?"

We looked at each other obliviously.

**SILENCE!**

Everyone turned to face the monster at the front of the room, the one I'd specifically tried not to look at. All I remember now was a huge throne, as big as Loki's, but it wasn't decorated, and this huge red eye. I prayed that the eye would not focus on me. I prayed and hoped with all my might that it would just look away. This was nothing like what I'd experienced so far. This creature was EVIL, evil with a capital P for psychotic. Huitzilopoctli was a puppy dog compared to this. This was the incarnation of all evil in the world.

**THE HUMAN-LOVER ELLEMIST AND I HAVE MADE A DEAL. YOU WHO CALL YOURSELVES ANIMORPHS WILL GO TO EVERWORLD AND HELP THESE FOUR. YOU WILL STILL BE ALLOWED TO FIGHT FOR EARTH. **

Crayak knew what he was getting these six into, they didn't.

**SUCCED AND YOU WILL PREVENT A VITAL EVENT FROM DESTROYING YOUR PLANET. SHOULD THIS EVENT HAPPEN, YEERK AND HUMAN ALIKE WILL DIE. FAIL AND BOTH THE ELLEMIST AND I LOSE THE GAME.**

"Game?" David asked.

I couldn't help thinking, _what an idiot, he'll bring the eye to focus on us,_ and at the same time, _yeah, what game?_

Crayak laughed, and every hair on my body stood on end. A cold prickle went down my spine. This creature was only helping us to serve himself. He didn't want to lose.

Suddenly, we were all back in Everworld, time resuming where we left off.

"Hi," I said nervously, "I'm April."


	2. A Nasty Little Suprise

A/N: I decided to post the second faster than usual, because I'm way far ahead on this story :P. I'm still looking for a beta, if anyone's interested. Gotta be picky, and it'll be better if you've read both sets of books.

Chapter 2

Jake

"I'm Jake," I said, trying to be friendly, praying they weren't yeerks. "And this is Rachel, Marco, Cassie, Tobias and Aximili." I indicated subtly for Ax to lower his tail, which was poised above his head, ready to strike any moment in defense. The four of them were staring at it warily, the brown-haired kid's hand itching to draw his sword and chop it off.

April smiled, flicking her long red hair back. "This is Jalil, Christopher and David. Welcome to Everworld." She seemed friendly enough, maybe she wasn't infested.

"What exactly is Everworld?" Rachel interrupted the pleasantries, "I mean, sorry to point out the obvious, but you're human, so how much do you know?"

They all exchanged confused glances.

"Um…" David said.

Christopher seemed all too happy to explain. "Well, we were dragged here by a bitch of a witch named Senna Wales."

Marco snorted. "A witch? You've got to be kidding me. What are you, from the seventeenth century? Witches don't exist."

I heard a laugh, and turned to find an old man in a cloak walking up to us. "Oh, you'll come to change that opinion." He had a long white beard and blue eyes. Unmistakable.

"Merlin," Cassie whispered.

It reminded me of when the whole war started, when we were all staring up into the sky at the blue lights of an andalite fighter, and everyone knew what it was. Everyone was sure that it was a UFO, yet Cassie had been the only one brave enough to say it aloud.

Merlin chuckled. "Yes, I am Merlin."

None of us knew what to make of that.

Christopher laughed at us too. "That was our reaction. See, long time ago, the ancient gods said 'Screw this place, let's go make our own universe.' So they did, hence, ancient religions went out of style in the real world. So the gods and their legend friends and plenty enough humans to keep their immortal butts kissed for a long time moved here. And everyone was happy and good with torturing humans and being all evil and such until other gods from other planets started showing up. First there were dudes like the Coo-hatch, which were okay because all they wanted to do was go home, but then Ka Anor and all his little buddies showed up. One problem: Ka Anor eats gods. So, now the gods need to get up off their immortal asses and do something, because death was all fine and good when it happened to everyone else, but now it scares the crap out of them that they can die. And now that witch Senna thought it would be just a great idea to bring a bunch of Nazi rejects into Everworld with guns and try to rule supreme. Good thing she's dead, because otherwise, we'd be kissing witch ass right now."

((How did she die?)) Tobias asked.

"Hey! The bird talks," Christopher said.

"No shit Christopher," Jalil said in exaperation, "WTE, everything talks here."

That surprised me a bit, but hey, if Merlin was here, why not?

((Answer the question,)) Ax said, very agitated.

"I killed her," April said grimly, lowering her head.

Jalil sighed, "April, I know she was your sister,"

"Half sister," April corrected.

"But you have to get over this, Senna would have killed us all or made us slaves. You may have taken one life, but you saved a lot in the long run."

"It doesn't matter!" she exploded. "Murder is murder, no matter for what cause!"

"You didn't seem to think that way on Olympus," Christopher pointed out. April's eyes turned steely. I really, really prayed that Rachel would keep her mouth shut.

"April, I know it sounds harsh, but really, it sounds like that chick deserved what she got."

Damn.

Cassie told her very quietly to shut up, maybe a little harshly. She went and gave April a hug. "You've been through a lot. Jake knows how you feel."

I knew they'd drag me into this. The whole sibling thing.

"My brother is a yeerk," I said.

Everyone looked at us in confusion. That's good, it must mean they were free. But, just in case: "Ax," I said.

((Yes, my prince,)) Ax said. I a flash his tail was at David's throat. David pulled away and drew his sword. Ax dropped his tail, satisfied.

"Good," I said. "That means we can trust you. And Ax, don't call me prince."

((Yes, Prince Jake.))

"You're a prince?"

"No," I said, "That's what andalites call their commanders, unfortunately."

"How does me defending myself mean that you can trust me?" David asked.

Ax decided to answer that question. ((If you were a yeerk, you would know that before your hand touched that sword, your head would no longer be attached to your body. As the Visser so brilliantly put it, that is usually fatal in humans.)) He demonstrated by flicking his tail muscles, making a crack like a whip.

April backed up, and Jalil and Christopher looked as if they were searching for a weapon. Merlin just smiled. "Impressive," he said, not even a hint of fear in his voice. His lack of fear seemed to set the others at ease. "Who is your god?"

We all kind of shrugged and looked at each other. None of us were particularly religious.

"They're from the Old World Merlin," April said. "They don't get it." Then she turned to us. "We're from the same place you are, assuming you live on Earth in America."

"Yes," we said warily.

"So," Christopher said, "You know that big bad guy?"

"Crayak?" Marco said, "Oh yeah, he's a real close friend of ours. You must have noticed how much he liked my buddy Jake here."

"He really wants you dead," David said, pointing out the obvious. "What's your story?" I noted that he still had his sword drawn. I sized him up, wondering how good he was with that sword. A tiger could probably take him, as long as he wasn't really, really good.

"Well, how long has it been since you've been on Earth?" Cassie asked.

"It's been months since Senna screwed us over and took us into Everworld, but it's only been about a week since we've been home," Jalil said.

"How?" I asked.

"When we sleep here, at least, when Senna was alive, our minds would go back to reality, merging with our brains there. Technically, there were two of us, split between worlds, and when we slept, two minds were one. We lived our normal lives there, which wasn't so great, considering that every once and a while our Everworld selves would pop in and give us a news update, most often involving us about to die," he said.

"And when she died?"

"We were unstable, because Senna kept us grounded there. We had to choose to go home or stay here."

I nodded. "You chose to stay."

"Obviously," Christopher snorted.

"Well, Earth as you know it is kind of… being invaded. By yeerks," Rachel said.

"What?" Four voices asked shrilly. "How long has this been going on?"

"Probably since you were four," Rachel said. "It's a secret. Yeerks are aliens that look like slugs and crawl into your brain. From there, they spread out and control you utterly. You have no control over yourself and the yeerk just reads your memories and thoughts so it acts exactly like you. You become a prisoner in your mind, and then, you're stuck."

Five pairs of eyes looked at us, horrified. Rachel really, really shouldn't be allowed to talk.

"That's not true," April said.

"I wish it wasn't," I said.

"Yeah, but you guys can't be yeerks if you've been here for months, unless there's a Kandrona generator around," Rachel said.

"Kandrona?" Jalil asked.

Tobias ruffled his wings. ((A Kandrona is a yeerk's source of food. Without Kandrona, a yeerk will die in three days.))

The four seemed completely stunned at this. Nobody spoke.

"The old world is falling apart," Merlin said sadly. "It was a great place indeed."

((It is still a beautiful place,)) Ax said, ((But if the yeerks succeed, little of its former beauty will remain.))

Merlin nodded, "You must succeed then. In both worlds."

"Let me get this straight, we have to save earth and this Everworld too? That is so unfair!" Marco yelled.

Christopher laughed. "If we were still there, we'd be helping you, I promise. But I feel for you man."

"Come, Zeus awaits," Merlin said.

"Zeus?" Four voices asked in a chorus, in addition to two thought-speak voices.

"We told you, didn't we?" April said, "This is the realm of gods. We're on our way to see how many Greek gods we can ally against Ka Anor."

((We know, but gods? I mean, we've faced a lot, including the Ellemist and Crayak, but we're supposed to believe that Zeus and Osiris and Athena are all real? Come on, there's got to be some other explanation,)) Tobias said.

"I like the bird," Jalil said immediately.

((My name's Tobias.))

"Sorry, Tobias, but can we please go to Olympus now?" Christopher said. "I'm starving!"

I nodded. "Um, just so it doesn't freak you out when we do it, we have this thing. When Ax's brother came to earth, he was dying, so he gave us a technology. I know it looks like magic, but I assure you it's not."

All four nodded.

"Okay guys," I said with a sigh, "bird morphs."

The first change I made was the eyes. It was wicked, being able to see so far and clear when my body was still human. Next, feather patterns etched themselves across my skin. I watched everyone else morph, all except Tobias. Rachel had a beak and talons, but nothing else seemed to have changed. Marco was shrunk most of the way to bird size when I heard a bone snap in his arm to become a wing. Cassie was making it look like an art form, with feather patterns all over her skin and morphing clothing. Long feathers sprouted from her outstretched arms, and she had that angelic look she liked to do so much when she morphed osprey. Ax simply looked like a disgusting mess of feathers and fur, a tail and stalk eye could be seen now and then. I turned to the four newcomers. Each had a different look on their face. April showed minimal disgust at first, but then longing when she saw Cassie finish and take to the sky. Christopher looked away like he was about to throw up, likely because he had been staring at Rachel when she pulled one of those bone-growing-right-out-of-your-flesh things. Jalil was interested, his curiosity about to make him burst, but David only held his sword, unfazed, waiting for someone to make a wrong move.

"Put your sword down Davideus," Christopher said, "There's a babe among the crowd, no matter how creepy that just was."

"Allow me to remind you that Hel was also a 'babe'," David said stiffly.

"Half a babe," Christopher said, "Don't try and use that against me."

((Hel?)) Rachel had been taking off, but she floated back to rest in front of Christopher. ((Did you say Hel? As in the Norse goddess of the underworld?))

"Half beautiful woman, half dead, cruel, killing creature," Merlin confirmed.

((By the sound of it, she's probably Rachel's idol,)) Marco laughed.

((I studied her in grade seven. We had to do a whole book report on an ancient god or goddess. Are you sure you met Hel? Loki's daughter Hel?))

Christopher backed away from the eagle before him. "In the flesh, and not-so-flesh."

((And she's the same as in all the mythology books? She's really half dead?))

"She's ten times worse than any mythology book," April said smugly, "We got past her twice."

"Yeah, yeah," Christopher said, "And if April, calm, sensible, not to mention girl who Hel's magic doesn't work on April hadn't been there, us helpless guys would have fallen into her trap and be added to her little boardwalk of human skulls."

I winced in disgust. ((Let's just get going, okay?)) So we took off, trying to keep the group of five (including Merlin) in view at all times. April said it wouldn't be at all suspicious if we flew in a group, so we did.


	3. To Trust or not to Trust

Chapter 3

David

I was torn, attempting to decide if we could trust the strangers. On the one hand, they seemed kind and trustworthy. On the other hand, they were strong, blunt, too trusting and had powers that they claimed to be scientific. Could they be telling the truth? Was earth really being invaded or were they just attempting to destroy our spirit? They could easily be a team of gods or creatures working for Ka Anor. Why else would they be here? And what was Crayak, this creature of such evil that was playing a game with earth? Something was terribly wrong with this whole thing and I could feel it.

"Does this mean that Tobias is actually human?" April whispered to Jalil.

((Actually,)) Tobias said from overhead, easily overhearing the two of them, ((It's very complicated. Originally, I was human, but when I got the morphing power, I accidentally overstayed the time limit and got stuck as a hawk. Only recently, a small group of aliens managed to escape yeerk control and I helped them hide. The Ellemist, who says he doesn't interfere with the lives of others but does, told me that if I saved them, he would reward me by giving me my morphing powers back. I thought he meant that he'd make me human again and be able to morph, but no such luck. He gave me back my power to morph and the ability to become my human self again, but hawk is my true body now. If I stay human for two hours, I'll be stuck again, unable to morph.))

_Note to self: Never underestimate their abilities, _I thought. _These guys have an even greater advantage than us and greater numbers._

"Is this Ellemist guy the one Crayak hates?" Jalil asked.

((Him and Jake,)) Rachel said, ((Crayak really hates Jake.))

"What is this 'game' that was mentioned?" I asked, hoping to get straight to the point, "And what does it have to do with Everworld?"

((It has nothing to do with Everworld, if what you say about it being a different universe is true,)) Cassie said. ((The Ellemist and Crayak are like yin and yang, good and evil. They've decided to play a 'game' over earth. If the yeerks win, the Ellemist loses, and Crayak goes on killing. If humans win, Crayak has to stop destroying planets. We are like chess pieces to them, making the smallest moves to try and check the other. It's sick, but sometimes it works to our advantage.))

I understood, "So, they're basically gods."

April nodded in agreement, "God and the Devil."

((I guess you could call them that,)) Tobias said thoughtfully, ((but more than anything, the two of them are self-serving nuisances who love to play with the minds of humans.))

"They're gods," Christopher said simply. "You'll know what we mean when you get to Olympus. These guys are exactly like your little buddies. Now imagine trying to ally your Ellemist and Crayak to save a whole universe. That's what we've got to do."

((I don't think it's the same,)) Jake said, ((The Ellemist wants peace and happiness to spread throughout the universe, whereas Crayak wants to rule supreme over the universe.))

"What if there was a power that threatened to devour them both?" April asked.

((They would join forces without question,)) Ax said, ((Neither of them are respectful of those they meddle with, but both are brilliant beyond brilliance.))

"You're right then Jake," I said, "there are very few brilliant gods here."

April, Jalil, Christopher and Merlin all laughed.

((How long have we been in morph, Ax?)) Jake asked after a long pause.

((We have used up approximately seventy-five percent of the time Prince Jake,)) Ax replied.

((Do you guys mind if we stop for a minute?)) Jake said, ((We'll catch up with you later.))

"Are you sure?" I asked, "Maybe we should stay with you. After all, we know the terrain better." I watched the birds, who actually exchanged glances in consideration before coming to a conclusion. WTE.

((I think we can handle ourselves,)) Rachel said with a laugh.

"Okay, see you in a minute," I said, and they all pulled off into the bushes.

"Can we trust them?" Jalil asked me as soon as they were out of hearing range.

"We'll soon find out," I said with a laugh. "Just wait, I saw that pig around here somewhere."

"You're kidding!" April said, not seeming to think it was funny at all. "You're so cruel!"

"Relax, he'll only bug them until he figures out they don't have any food. 'They can handle themselves,' remember?"

((AAAHHHH! What the hell is that?)) a scream came from the woods. It sounded like Tobias.

"Bingo," I said, running to the forest. The others followed, all but Merlin, who seemed to think we'd be fine on our own. We reached the source of the sound and found six pigs, each with its unnaturally large teeth at a throat except one, who had a tail-blade to its neck.

"You make me laugh, strange centaur," the head pig said. "If you kill me, your friends will also die. Do not attempt to make that choice."

I laughed at the sight, "Pig, we do not have any food, leave these wanderers."

"I do not search for food, I search for money. Hand over your jewlery, or face death."

"David, my good friend," Marco said, "you know these guys?" He gave me a pointed look, easily deciding that I'd done it on purpose.

"No," I said, indicating the pig with Ax's tail-blade to its throat, "I just know him. He stole our food when we were running from Loki, obliviously chasing Senna right into Hel's domain. Anyone with jewelry, take it off and give it to the pigs, they're stronger than they look."

"My grandmother gave me this," Rachel complained as she took off her necklace and hung it on the pig's tusk.

The pig on top of her backed away slowly. "You are strange creatures indeed."

The pigs exited into the bushes.

"I wish I could take them back to the real world so bad," Christopher said longingly. "Talking pigs. I'd be a millionaire!"

"So, you can handle yourselves, huh?" I asked, offering a hand to Jake and helping him up.

"Thanks," he said, "but I wasn't lying, we _can _handle ourselves. How far is it to Olympus?"

"Probably a day's walk," I said.

"Oh, good then, who wants to eat pig tonight?" Rachel said. "I want my necklace back."

Jake nodded, "Fastest thing you've got," and the four humans and Tobias began morphing.

Rachel was the first to show any difference. Immediately, a huge tail shot out of her back, spikes growing all the way down. I watched her the whole time. Her legs made a snapping noise as her feet grew and she rose up on tiptoe. Her skin turned a greenish-brown color and her fingernails became long and tough. A huge green spike sprouted out of her forehead and others followed, traveling down her spine and arms. Her mouth formed a beak and her eyes turned yellow. It was a pretty sickening sight, to see something so beautiful become such a horrible creature. Yet, once the change was done, she seemed almost beautiful again. Tobias had become the same creature.

((This is a hork-bajir,)) he said, ((The creatures we saved from yeerk control.))

"Why would you want to save something so vicious?" I asked, eyeing the spikes on its back, arms and tail.

((Hork-bajir are actually pretty nice,)) Cassie said, she and Marco were wolves, ((They only have the blades for harvesting bark to eat. But let's tell stories later, I want that bracelet back.))

((You guys wanna come?)) Jake asked. I nodded. I didn't want to miss out on pig-slashing fun. ((Rachel, pick up Christopher. Tobias, get Jalil. David can ride on my back, I think I can handle it. Ax can take April.))

((Yes, Prince Jake,)) Ax said. April mounted his back and Jalil and Christopher were scooped up into the arms of two hork-bajir.

((Come on David, or we'll lose them,)) Jake said. I'll admit, I was very edgy about getting on a tiger's back, but I sheathed my sword and climbed on. ((Hold tight,)) he warned, and for good reason. I grabbed his mane of fur just in time for him to bolt forward.

"AHHH!" the four of us screamed, holding on for dear life.

((Their trail's this way,)) Cassie shouted. ((Are you sure we can kill these guys? I mean, they're just trying to stay alive.))

"Rule number one in Everworld, don't question motives," Cristopher warned, his voice barely heard above the wind. "We're trying to survive too."

((Still,)) she said.

((Cassie, we've been jerked around by too many people today. Just now, we got dragged to another universe with talking pigs and gods. I'm tired, hungry and very grouchy, so let's just get some food,)) Jake said.

((We're getting close,)) Rachel said eagerly. ((Right. About. Here.))

Through the bushes, the pigs became visible, walking merrily away from the crime scene.

((You know what'd be cool?)) Jake said, ((Draw your sword and we'll be the cavalry.))

"You've got to be kidding me," I said. The kid had to be about two years younger me, I'd have to forgive him for being immature, but I drew my sword anyway, accidentally hitting his ear and chopping a piece off the end. He didn't even wince. "Sorry."

((No worries, I've had worse injuries. Get ready.)) He began running even faster and  
I had to grasp his mane with both hands again, hitting his flank with the edge of the sword and leaving a gash. ((Just watch that sword, okay?)) I pulled my sword arm away from his body so I wouldn't hurt him. ((And… slash!)) We flew past the lead pig and I swung my sword, slicing through flesh. Ax snapped his tail forward like a scorpion and beheaded a pig, April still on his back, hugging him around the waist like she was behind a guy on a motorbike. She had her head tucked in to his furry back. Jalil and Christopher had been ditched back a ways so that Rachel and Tobias could take down their own pigs. Marco and Cassie tore into the necks of their separate pigs too. Cassie skillfully killed it instantly, Marco had a bit more trouble with his.

We regrouped in the center of the slaughtered pigs, looking at our handiwork. "I hope talking pigs aren't poisonous," one of the hork-bajir said, "'cause I'm hungry." I couldn't tell who it was though, because the voice was not human.

Clapping came from behind us, and we all turned to find Merlin walking over. "Splendid! Simply wonderful! Your magic is great!"

((Um… It's not magic,)) Jake said. ((Its science.))

"Yes, yes," Merlin said, waving his hand, "Either way, you are just what Everworld needs! These creatures you can become will be strong against the hetwan."

((What are Hetwan?)) Cassie asked, starting to demorph. April and I dismounted.

"Hetwan are Ka Anor's people," I said, "They're like priests, or those English guardsmen. They're only interested in what Ka Anor wants, they don't care about each other or even their own lives. It's like they're zombies or something, following their leader blindly into battle."

The now demorphed group shot each other glances. Marco spoke the opinion of the group, "The hetwan wouldn't happen to be insects, would they?"

"As a matter of fact," Christopher said, "they are."


	4. Anger Management

Chapter 4

Cassie

"How did you know?" David asked.

((We had an encounter with insects a ways back,)) Tobias said.

"WE?" Marco demanded angrily. "You weren't even there! You were perched up on Chapman's roof somewhere, watching us battle it out with psycho, killer ants!"

"Ants?" Cristopher asked doubtfully. "You mean giant ants or something."

"No," I said, "Normal-sized ants. They're a lot scarier when you get down to their size."

"And even more disgusting," Rachel concluded. "We have decided as a group that hive insects are a big morphing no-no." Everyone shuddered.

"Ants, termites, probably bees, wasps, hornets. They're all the same. All have no individuality, no thoughts of their own. Each and every one follows their queen without question. So all those movies like _A Bug's Life_ and _Antz_ are completely impossible," Marco said.

April gaped at us. "You've been ants? As in, ants that tunnel in the ground and farm aphids?"

"Never knew about the aphids, but yeah, ants that enslave each other, kill without conscience and have absolutely no brains of their own? Yeah."

"You mean these yeerks are screwing with how our animals act?" Christopher asked.

"No," I said, "It was always like that. Ants have always been killer. We've done worse, I guess, but that was our first serious animal encounter."

"If you exclude the tiger," Jake said, walking over to a dead pig and picking a bracelet off one of the tusks. He handed it to Cassie.

"And if you don't count hork-bajir, or Visser Three," Marco said.

"You can't," I said, 'they're sentinent aliens, not earth animals."

"Whatever."

Jake picked up a pig. "What do you say we find a camp site and get better informed before nightfall?"

David nodded and picked up a decapitated pig. His eyes had a weary look in them. He didn't know if he could trust us, but he knew that if it came to a fight, hands-down Animorphs would win. It was written on his face, and I understood his worry. I walked over to him and picked up the head, trying not to throw up in disgust. I smiled at David, and he returned the smile wearily. How could I get him to trust me?

"Where should we camp?" I asked him in my brightest please-cheer-up voice. "You obviously know this place better than us." April eyed me suspiciously. She seemed to have a reason to be worried about David around me. Perhaps she liked him. I'd have to talk it over with her later.

"We should find a clearing. But don't travel on the road, that's where the Sennites will be, should we be unlucky enough to find them." I nodded, having no idea exactly what Sennites were.

((Got it covered,)) Tobias said from above. ((There's a clearing straight ahead.)) Everyone followed, each carrying a piece of pig except Ax, whose arms were too weak. About five minutes of walking took us to an excessively small clearing. David put his pig down against a tree and began digging a hole for fire.

Merlin intervened. "Please David, allow me." He waved his hand and rocks came flying from all directions to the center of the clearing, forming a small ring. Wood came too, and a fire was instantly lit. Merlin sat down. "I should conserve my magic. Could some of you please get fire wood?"

((Impossible,)) Ax said, shaking his head. (Yet another gesture he had picked up from humans.) ((Humans do not have technology so advanced to bend matter to their will. Do they?))

"W.T.E." Jalil said, grinning broadly. "I'd say the same thing, but it still keeps happening."

Ax peered at Jalil curiously. ((What is your name again?))

"Jalil Sherman." He reached out a hand to Ax. "And yours?"

((A handshake,)) Ax observed. ((My name is Aximili. My full name is a bit long and tiring to say for humans.)) He shook Jalil's hand.

The two of them started conversing, mostly Jalil telling Ax about all the impossible things that happened in Everworld, and precisely why it annoyed him. It was interesting, but Jalil spoke way too fast, so I tuned out. Tobias and Rachel were morphing hork-bajir, to gather firewood. David had already started, but I tapped him on the shoulder. "You don't have to do that, really. We'll gather the wood. Hork-bajir are made for that kind of stuff."

"I'll hold my own," David said stubbornly.

"It's okay," April said from behind me. "David, those hork-um… things are good at getting wood. Save your energy and let them do it." I turned to face her. She had also understood David's worry, and she felt the same way. They all had to save their energy in case it came to a fight. Me? I wasn't worried. Not because we could win, but because I trusted these people. Jake always said that I was very good at judging people.

I gave her a friendly smile. "Can I talk to you?" I asked. She seemed wary. "Come sit," I said, pointing to a nearby log. She'd feel better if we were in the company of her friends and Merlin.

Jake walked up to David. "I'll tell you my story if you tell me yours."

David smiled. "You first."

April and I sat down. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Christopher and Marco sit by Merlin and start talking. From the looks of it, about Rachel.

"I think our groups got off on the wrong foot," I said. April nodded. "I'm sorry we seem so weird, it's just that we've only had to tell our secret to one person, and when we did, it turned out really bad."

April smiled wryly. "Do tell."

"Tell what?"

"Tell me everything."

So I did. I told her about meeting Elfangor in the construction site, about Visser Three killing him. I told her about Tom, and our attempt to save him. I told her about the ants, the termites, freeing the hork-bajir, the peace movement. Everything up to the point where we'd trapped David. There hadn't been a mission since then. When I was done, Jalil and Ax had cooked one of the pigs and were making the rest of the meat jerky. I looked down at the pig. "Are you going to have any?" April was busy gaping at me. I cleared my throat.

"Um… no thanks. I'm a vegetarian."

"I don't think I'll have any either," I said. "So, now that you know all about me, care to tell me a bit about yourself? Let's start with why you were so nervous about me being around David."

April was shocked. "He didn't tell you that, did he?"

"No," I said, "it was written all over your face."

April laughed. "I guess being around guys for so long has made me lose my acting skills."

"I know, guys can never tell what you're thinking."

"Back to the point," she said, "I'm just sort of wary of girls around David because of Senna."

"Tell me from the beginning."

"It all started with Senna. She's my half-sister, the result of my father's affair. When her mother ditched the real world for Everworld, at least that's what I think happened, Senna was left with my dad and nowhere else to go. He brought her home. My mother was furious, but she tried to treat Senna like her own child. Senna was the weirdest person I ever knew. She'd come into my room at night when I was a kid and tell me horrible stories." Suddenly, April seemed like a small child, much like she must have been at the time. "Some nights, Gollum from Lord Of The Rings would appear in my room, and I would scream and cry until my mother came in and turned on the lights. 'Gollum' would never hurt me, neither would the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland, or Scar from The Lion King. Senna delighted in finding new ways to disguise herself to scare me. I always knew it was her, even though there was absolutely no evidence that it was anything but my imagination. I knew what I saw, no matter who believed me or didn't. I tried to be nice to her though. I shared my toys with her. I shared my family with her." Tears, barely visible in the fading light, streamed down April's face. She composed herself.

"No horse would ever let Senna near her. I knew Senna wasn't normal, but I kept quiet. My parents would think I was crazy. In school, Senna bribed Jalil. He's obsessive-compulsive, so she used her magic to free him from it for a second. He agreed to help her when she needed his help so that he could have that freedom."

I turned to look at Jalil. He was dirty, tired and laughing. "He doesn't seem like he's obsessive-compulsive."

"When he came to Everworld, his O.C.D. disappeared. But anyway, then Senna started dating Christopher. She used her magic to seduce him and make him need her. Senna had him just where she wanted him when David moved to town, so she dumped Christopher and decided to date David. She told David that something was going to happen, and she told him to save her when it did. He was deep under her spell, deeper than anyone else, and he agreed.

"So the next morning, Senna snuck out early. I followed her, knowing that something was up. She went to the docks, and I found Christopher, David and Jalil there too. She'd lured all four of us there purposely.

"Meanwhile, in Everworld, Ka Anor was threatening to eat gods. Loki, the Norse god of chaos decided that he was sick of being pushed around. He knew of a gateway, in the form of a witch named Senna, who was in the Old World. So he made a deal with Ka Anor, borrowing power to break across the barrier between universes and snatch Senna. We were carried along in her wake."

Tobias and Rachel delivered a large amount of logs and demorphed to eat. David and Jake were still talking, Ax was giving Jalil a tail-fighting demonstration and Marco and Christopher were sleeping. Merlin stared into the fire. I turned back to April and nodded.

"Loki chained us to his castle wall for hours to see if we were mortal or not. When he found out we were, he brought us into the castle and demanded that we hand Senna over. Conveniently, Senna wasn't with us. She must have escaped when we were carried across the barrier. Anyway, Loki thought it was a good idea to pick on David. David wet his pants and never let it go. He's been really stupid about it. I would have wet my pants too, had a giant god picked me up and threatened to crush me between his fingers. When he sent us to be killed, we escaped the trolls and managed to fool them, which isn't a hard task. We ended up with a Viking named Thorolf and his wife and pretended to be minstrels. We have crazy singing skills," she laughed.

I laughed too. "Really? What did you sing?"

"Killing me softly, and a few other songs. Anyway, from there, we went with the Vikings to Aztec land to kill Huitzilocoptli. The Vikings lost, but we ended up saving them and killing the god, the four of us."

She was bragging, I'll admit, but she had a right to brag, and she probably hadn't told anyone else.

"Then, we found Senna in the jungle and ran into a dragon. She put David and Christopher under her control to try and scare it away. It was pretty feeble, but Galahad, you know Galahad, from the quest for the holy grail right?"

"Sort of."

"He saved us, and we went to his castle, where Loki and Merlin showed up. Loki went nuts and attacked the nights, so us, Merlin and Galahad ran and tried to make a last stand at old tower ruins. Galahad was badly injured, so we tried transferring my blood into him, but when Merlin was distracting Loki and we tried to get away, a dragon killed Galahad. We buried him and kept his sword, because it was magic and we needed a strong sword." She took a deep breath. "Senna escaped in all the confusion, and we just kept moving in hopes that Loki wouldn't find us. We accidentally came upon Hel's lovely cave home. She tried to kill us, but we got away thanks to Galahad's sword. It's probably the only sword in Everworld that can harm her. So then we were stuck in the underworld tunnels, with Senna again until we met Nidhoggr and had to go to fairy world and recover the trinkets that the leprechauns stole, because if we didn't, the rubies that Nidhoggr used to replace our hearts would explode in our chests. Eventually we did, and Senna escaped us again. The fairy folk don't like us much though. Then, we found Dionysis and Gandymede, who had been captured by the hetwan."

Tobias and Rachel morphed again and took off into the woods. I watched them disappear, wondering what they were talking about. My attention turned back to April.

"We crossed through Ka Anor's base in disguise, but Dionysis blew it and Gandymede was caught. We saw Ka Anor eat him." She shuddered and the hair on the back of my neck stood up straight. "Long story short, we went to Olympus, rode winged horses and fought a war against the hetwan. We met Athena and Senna came back. Apparently, through our own fault, some aliens had discovered gunpowder and threatened to give it to the hetwan if we didn't find them a way back to their own universe. We had to go to Egypt to find Senna's mother, who was a servant of the Amazons there. Don't even ask. Anywho, she agreed to send the other aliens, the Coo-Hatch, back home. We ended up in Ireland, where we discovered that all along Senna had been travelling between the real world and here to collect a force of impressionable, pyromaniac, psychotic guys with tons of ammunition. She brought them all across the barrier and waged war on the castle in Ireland. Loki and Merlin came in the end and tried to help us. At the end, Senna had everyone tied up and Jalil, Christopher and David were completely under her control until I killed her with a Swiss-Army Knife."

I closed my open mouth. There wasn't much I could say to that. "That must have been really hard."

((AHHHHHHHH! You guys, get over here quick!)) Rachel's voice yelled. I immediately started morphing wolf.

((Coming?)) I asked April. She nodded and started running towards Rachel's voice. I followed, easily outrunning her and getting ahead. Ax came to her rescue and she mounted. We ran side by side until Rachel and Tobias were in view. Jake and David came in next. I could hear Jalil and Christopher running too, cursing that they couldn't get there any faster. Marco ran too, but his footsteps were getting heavier as he morphed Gorrilla.

I smelled Rachel in a nearby tree. ((They've got guns!)) she yelled. I heard a fire and dodged. Some thirty-year-old, tatooed guy was shooting at me. He managed to scrape my side with a bullet, but I was still way too smart for him. I zig-zagged to keep his bullets one step behind, and soon I was in too close for him to shoot accurately. I leapt for his neck and knocked him down.

"Sennites!" I heard April's surprised voice cry. So these were Sennites. I had him pinned to the ground, and I snapped my jaws around his arm, disabling several nerves. Let's see him try to pull that trigger now.

((If you try anything, I'll kill you,)) I said seriously, listening hard to the others. It was a fast victory, all four Sennites were trapped, one dead.

"Shit!" the man yelled. "The animals talk!"

"Welcome to Everworld," Jalil said, catching up.

"What do you want?" the man said in panic. "Please don't kill me, I'll do anything."

David seized the moment. "Tell us who you are working for."

"Now that the Master is dead, we work for only ourselves."

((Do not lie,)) Ax warned, his tail-blade to a throat. ((We will not tolerate lies.))

"I'm telling the truth!"

((Where were you going?)) Jake asked. David must have filled him in well.

"We were going to head to Egypt. We heard that there were Amazons there."

April smiled menacingly. "Guys, take the weapons. These men mean us no harm."

((April, you're not seriously thinking about setting them free, are you?))

April nodded. I walked up to her and stood on my hind legs, resting the front ones on her stomach. I spoke privately to her. ((They're killers, April. If we let them go, they'll hurt innocent creatures.))

April shook her head. "I know what I'm doing Cassie."

I pulled my lips back in a snarl. ((I won't let you free them.)) David stepped forward, unsheathing his sword. April held up her hand to stop him.

"It's okay David," she said.

"No, it's not. These guys can't keep pushing us around." This was it. It was inevitable, the two groups had to fight. Ax and Marco remained holding the prisoners as Jake, Rachel and Tobias stepped forward. Christopher drew a sword.

"Don't do this guys," he said. Too late, Tobias was on him, knocking him against a tree and holding a wrist blade to his throat. Rachel took Jalil swiftly, arm pinning him to another tree by the neck, knee blade dangerously close to a very sensitive place on a Jalil. Jake leapt on top of David with a roar. It was chaos, and April also acted fast. She pulled back from me and picked up a long stick, ready to fight if necessary. David screamed as a gash was torn in his arm, and he swung the sword wildly at Jake, ripping through his stomach and leg. Jake roared in pain. Christopher used the distraction to swing his sword at Tobias. April used that distraction to smack me on the head with the stick. At the second swing, I grabbed the other end of the stick in my jaws and it became a desperate game of tug-of-war. Tobias was injured, Rachel fought both Christopher and Jalil. Jake took another harsh hit from David. Ax jumped into the fray at the same time as Merlin. Plants grew from the earth very quickly and trapped Rachel, Ax and Tobias, who were slashing their blades desperately, but the plants, (apparently they were trees,) grew too fast. All three of them were immobilized, and the same happened to Marco and the Sennites. Jake lay on the ground, very close to cut in half, still tiger. David stood over him, sword readied for a finishing blow. I let go of the stick and ran to him.

((Jake, demorph! Jake, can you hear me? Demorph!)) David lowered his sword as I started to demorph. "Jake, please!" Tears were in my eyes already as I demorphed. "Jake, you idiot, listen to me. If you don't demorph, you'll die!"

"Cassie, that wound will kill a human!" April said, pointing to my bullet wound just before it healed over with pink flesh.

Jake stopped breathing. I grabbed his shoulders and concentrated. I could make him morph myself. Slowly, his face became human. It happened even slower than it should have, and ten tiring minutes later, everyone watching in awe, Jake was once again human. Only it didn't work the way it should have. His face was pale and his eyes were closed. Tears slid down my cheeks freely. "You killed him!" I said, anger vibrating with every word. "Just like Crayak wanted." April walked up behind me, but I had started morphing. Fangs replaced teeth, my hands became clawed. I wasn't about to give up my size though. I whipped around and snarled at April. She backed away. David's sword clattered to the ground in amazement. Good. I threw myself at him.

"You. Killed. Jake!" I screamed between slashes, doing extreme damage to David's arms that were held up in defense. I was blindly attacking, revenge making my blood boil with anger. Vines twisted around my ankles, making me trip and hit the earth. I stopped attacking and gave up, demorphing as slowly as I could, tears still running down my face and sobbing.

Rachel began swearing, struggling against the tree branches or roots that held her in place. She went through the entire English vocabulary of insults, then some French, Spanish, Japanese. When she ran out of Earth words she started using alien ones. Ax seemed shocked at her foul language. I didn't care. I hit the ground with my fists like a toddler having a tantrum. "He can't be dead. He's not dead. You didn't kill him." David seemed shocked at my behavior, as if he hadn't expected me to have feelings. Christopher acted like he wanted to comfort me, but he was afraid to come near me. How had I done this. It was my fault the fight started. My fault for growling at April. Now I had attacked David. Look at the monster I was. What happened to Cassie? I wasn't Cassie, I was a completely different person. I doomed one David and almost killed another. Why? I cried into the dirt. But Jake was dead. It was David's fault, not mine. David killed him. David killed the only guy I ever loved. I half-morphed wolf again, standing up and breaking the vines around my legs.

I advanced on David, and he ran to pick up his sword. Fine, he could have it. This didn't change anything. I would kill David or die trying, then meet Jake in the afterlife. I could see Jake again, what a good idea. I lunged, David pulling up his sword and slicing at my back leg. It fell to the ground, detached from my body, but I felt nothing. Pain meant nothing when I had failed to save Jake. I slashed and ripped at David, hitting almost nothing but his sword. Blood soaked the ground. Rachel stopped swearing.

((Cassie, stop!)) she yelled. ((Cassie, don't do this!)) I ignored her. She didn't understand. I_ loved_ Jake.

"Cassie, please!" April shouted.

"Cassie?" A familiar voice. The half-human half-wolf that was no longer Cassie stopped and stepped away from David and the sword of Galahad. It couldn't be, had that been- "Cassie, is that you?" Jake's head lifted slightly. His eyes were open, he was breathing. Slowly, the beast melted away, leaving only me, Cassie. I ran to him and kneeled at his side. He sat up. "I-I demorphed."

((Cassie used her powers to make you demorph,)) Ax said.

Jake looked up at me. My eyes were red and tear-filled, I was sobbing and the wolf's fangs were slowly disappearing from my mouth. "Is that true?" he asked. I nodded and sobbed out a small laugh of relief. Jake smiled and touched my face, wiping a tear from my cheek "Thanks." And he kissed me.


	5. Destination: Egypt

Chapter 5

Jalil 

Jake lifted his head to Cassie's and kissed her, pulling her back down to the ground with him. It was a long kiss, but Cassie pulled away in the end, backing up and pulling her legs into her chest, hugging them like an innocent little girl. Just like Senna used to. But there was a difference. Cassie was sobbing into her knees, rocking back and forth uncomfortably. She wasn't at all like Senna, who only did that to make us feel sorry for her.

"What's wrong, Cassie?" Jake asked, crawling over to her. "It's okay, I'm okay."

Cassie didn't dare to look. She just pointed at David, who was trying to pick himself up, despite the many scratches on his arms and stomach. He seemed okay, but he was obviously rattled and a bit afraid. "She tried to kill me," he said. Jake turned to Cassie, who was still rocking back and forth, one arm still extended but dropped to the ground. She sobbed even harder.

"I-I thought you were dead Jake. I thought he killed you. This thing- it was horrible. I just, I couldn't control…" Her voice faltered.

Jake wrapped his arms around her. "It's okay Cassie. I know. You just have to relax. I won't ever die on you, okay?"

"You don't know that."

"Yes I do," he insisted. "That's a promise. I won't ever die on you."

Cassie cried more, and David walked over to me. "April, Christopher, come here." April hesitated, but she came.

((Let me go!)) Rachel yelled. ((I want to go to Cassie!)) Merlin nodded and the trees around her, Tobias, Ax and Marco dropped to the ground they all demorphed. Rachel ran to Cassie and hugged her. Cassie looked like a little child in her mother's arms with Rachel, who pulled her close protectively. If anyone ever tried to hurt Cassie, Rachel would be first to defend her. It was so different from the way things were back at home. Blacks and whites had always divided themselves.

David pulled us back, being sure to keep Merlin between the two groups. "Who knows what?" he asked.

"Ax told me most of what has happened," I said. "He seemed a bit uncomfortable telling me about stuff though."

"Marco told me some story," Christopher said. "I think it's bullshit."

"Me and Cassie talked," April said. "I know their whole story, and she knows most of ours." She shot a worried glance back at the group. "She's had it rough, very rough. She tried to quit the group a while ago because she hated all the killing she had to do. I think she's a bit unstable, considering what just happened."

David nodded. "I think they're all unstable. Based on what I've been told and observed, Ax is the only predictable one, because he does whatever Jake tells him to."

"Did they tell you about David?" April asked quietly.

"Marco told me," Christopher said, "but he was pretty vague about it."

"What about me?" David asked. _Yeah,_ I thought,_ what about David?_

"Not you. A different David. Unless you're a rat," April said irritably.

David and I shot each other confused looks.

"David is a guy the Animorphs met a while back," Christopher said. "He lost his family, his house and his pets to the yeerks because he accidentally found a blue cube that gives you the power to morph."

"Poor guy," I said. "Must have been hard."

"But," April interjected, "he betrayed them. He tried to kill them all. He almost killed Jake by pushing him through the roof of a mall as a tiger. He killed a red-tailed hawk that he thought was Tobias, lucky it wasn't. He took Rachel down when she was owl and he was a golden eagle. Don't you get it? They have a right to be wary of us. They've been betrayed by the only person that they ever told their secret."

I nodded. "Of course. It all fits. That's why Aximili was scared to tell me too much. He doesn't want the same thing to happen with us."

April smiled. "Look, they're even younger than us and they've been thrust into a war that's way too big for them. You could even say they have it worse than we do. If we fight them, Merlin or not, they'll find a way to beat us. That's the way they do things. They beat David by trapping him in the body of a rat."

David nodded. "Jake told me some of the things they've done. They've had to change plans in an instant. They've faced huge varieties of unbeatable enemies, like the Veleek and they've managed to come out alive. I say that we put them on our side rather than let Ka Anor get ahold of them."

"April," I asked, "you wouldn't happen to know if they still have that handy-dandy cube of theirs would you?"

"I'm pretty sure they do, but there's no way to get it to Everworld anyway, the gateway's closed, remember?"

"Senna wasn't the only witch in Everworld," I said. Realization dawned on their faces.

"We… we could have that ability," April said with awe. "To be any animal we can touch."

"They heal when they morph," David said.

"Yeah, Aximili said it was about DNA. Injuries aren't in your DNA pattern, so they don't come back when you morph."

"We could fly," April said, still not able to get over the possibility. "Guys, we could fly… like birds."

"Don't you get it?" I said. "Think about it, the ability to morph anything. To have its abilities, instincts."

Everyone looked at me blankly.

I sighed, "Gods."

David's mouth dropped open. April looked at me like I was crazy and Christopher, well, Christopher was Christopher. "Yeah, that'll go over real well with the gods. 'Hey, can I maybe become you so's I can do cool magic tricks and such?' I don't think so."

"Jalil, you're forgetting that this is Everwold. DNA patterns might not even exist," David said. "And even if they did, there's a very, very slim chance that Gods have them."

"They don't have to. See them?" I pointed at the Animorph group. "They can morph here, so that makes one of two possibilities. Either DNA exists here, or… well… it's magic here."

April laughed. "I can't believe it's still so hard for you to grasp the concept of magic, Jalil. But you're right. If they can still morph, it has to work here. All we have to do is get them to trust us."

"So…" I turned to find Rachel standing with her hands on her hips. "Have you clowns decided what you're going to do with us?" She was really pissed. "Cassie's sorry, but I'm sure as hell not." She jabbed a finger at David accusingly. "You tried to kill my cousin, and it's lucky we're hard to kill, or you'd be dead by now." I glanced at the gashes that covered David's body. His forearms looked raw.

April stepped forward. Maybe she was an even better leader than David. She was sure as hell better negotiating. "We're sorry. David thought that Cassie was attacking me, and he shouldn't have drawn his sword. Maybe we can start over. I'm April O'Brian and this is Jalil Sherman, Christopher Hitchock and David Levin."

Jake nodded and put his hand on Rachel's shoulder. "Jake Berensen. We're sorry we've been so distrustful, it's just that we had a recent… issue."

"We know," I said. "And we're sorry that you had to go through that. But right now, we need your help desperately. Are you any good at negotiating?"

Rachel grinned, "What kind of negotiating?"

"Likely not that kind," Marco said. "We'll help you, but then you have to promise to help us as much as possible. We're still fighting a war at home, and we need to get back before the yeerks do something big."

"Jake and Marco," April said, "You have both been asleep… or unconscious. Did you 'dream' of being back in the real world?"

"Old World," Merlin corrected under his breath.

Marco and Jake nodded.

"Problem solved," April said, "You're all living your lives back in the 'Old World' right now as we speak. You can probably continue existing in both places easily, other than the occasional update for real world you."

"Um… hello?" a voice asked. We all turned to find four Sennites still bound to the ground with roots. I'd completely forgotten about them. "Sorry to interrupt, but we're still here." His voice was dripping with sarcasm.

"I've got an idea," April said, grinning.

"Okay," Cassie said, "How about we have a full-team gathering here?"

We all formed a circle away from the Sennites.

"We've met the Amazons," April said with a smile. "Let's let these guys meet them too."

"You thought I was cruel," David muttered. She shot him a dangerous look and he decided not to say anything else.

"I'll escort them there, and I can look for Senna's mom to ask her a few… questions," she announced. "Only the girls should go though. We don't want them causing any trouble with the guys."

Christopher laughed, "The Amazons, or Senna's mom?"

"Both," April said, completely serious.

Rachel smiled. "Amazons? I'm up for that!"

"Oh, God!" Marco said, "Please don't take her! She'll want to convert!"

Rachel elbowed him in the ribs, nodding at Cassie. "We'll go, but first, we have to put someone in charge." Jake and David looked confused. "Are you guys kidding me? No way we're leaving you two in charge! You'll have another ego clash! Better to leave someone more neutral and calm. Like Tobias." Cassie nodded approvingly.

"Oh sure, pick your boyfriend," Marco said, receiving another elbow in the ribs.

Jake nodded, "I agree."

April smiled. "Jalil should also be in charge, just so there's no suspicion of favoritism."

I stepped back. "Me? I don't know April, that might not turn out so well." I knew that David and Christopher would team up on me in a second.

"If you see anyone else neutral and calm, please, point him out."

I looked between the guys. Both knew that there was absolutely no way that they fit that description. "Okay," I sighed, "I'll do it."

"Good. You guys head to Olympus, and we'll take these clowns to Egypt," April said as the roots pulled away from the Sennites. Rachel rushed over and kicked the guns away from their hands.

"These might just come in handy," she said, "but we can't carry them, can we?"

I shook my head. "It's not a good idea to keep them. Someone's bound to get ahold of them and do something stupid. As useful as they are, Everworld just isn't ready for guns."

April beamed. "See? Acting like a leader already! Everybody grab a rock."

((Dude, you are so out-of-date,)) Tobias said with a laugh. ((Ax-man?)) Ax nodded and stepped towards the guns. He flicked his tail forward with incredible speed and power and destroyed all five guns. Rachel and April helped the injured Sennites stand and stripped all their ammunition and grenades off of them. Ax sliced through it piece by piece.

Merlin nodded. "I see that you are quite capable," he said. "Perhaps Aximili should travel with the girls."

The girls agreed and decided to stay the night. Ax offered to stay up all night and guard the Sennites, and we agreed on watch shifts. Two at a time, excluding Ax, one from each group. Regrettably, our group had to get less sleep.

Before everyone settled down, I took April aside. "Look, last time we were in Egypt, we left it in chaos. Sobek won't let you just pass through."

"I know," April said, "I'll take a detour. With birds on my side, we'll find them in no time."

"Be careful. She's not as strong as Senna is, but she's still a witch. She might not give you everything you ask for."

"I've got a plan," April said. She was so different from Senna, but still, she was very similar in some ways. Killing her half-sister had flipped a switch in her, and I had a feeling she would never be the same.

I took the first watch with Tobias. He was perched up in a tree, however, so I didn't talk to him much. Instead, I spoke with Ax.

"So, your race actually invented the morphing technology?" I asked, hoping to strike a conversation.

((Yes, the humans believe that it is the greatest invention that our race ever created, but I disagree. They have not seen all of our technology. I, however, believe that the cinnamon bun is the greatest human invention of all, but they disagree there also, so I believe that it is fair.))

"How do you eat without a mouth? That is, if you don't mind me asking." I said.

((I soak up nutrients through my hooves. I eat only grass and roots as an andalite, but as a human, the sense of taste is amazing!))

"I see, you think that the cinnamon bun is the best because you never had that sense before. I understand." I glanced over at the sleeping Sennites. They were so dense, just falling asleep like that. We could just kill them now if we'd wanted too. I wouldn't, but you'd think that a sensible person would be at least concerned.

"Please, tell me more about the morphing technology."

Ax nodded. ((It is very complicated, but I will try as best I can. The technology allows you to absorb the DNA of any creature into your cells. There, it remains unused, like a second set of genes until your brain triggers a series of chemical reactions that puts it to use. I was learning how it worked in what you would call biology class before I left into space. I find it very interesting how the brain can change your cells, and the excess matter goes into zero-space when you become something smaller.)) That's when he lost me. I hadn't a clue what zero-space was, but I genuinely tried to follow what he was saying. ((And after the two-hour limit, your cells become stable again and the DNA that you are currently using becomes dominant over all the other genes in the cells and destroying what is not a part of the DNA you are using,)) he finished.

"Why were you so reluctant to tell me all this earlier?" I asked.

((I was nervous that Prince Jake would not approve. I did not wish to give away any secrets that made you distrust us.))

"Why the change of heart?"

((I asked Prince Jake and he approved. He said to give away anything that you wish to know so that you may trust us.))

I nodded, looking up at Tobias. "Why is he so quiet all the time?"

((Tobias is very different from the rest of his people. He is probably the only one of his kind in the universe. He is my brother's son, making me his uncle. He was human, a result of when my brother morphed to human and fell in love with a human female. Truly, he is an andalite, human, and now also a hawk. Still, he is my _shorm._))

I was afraid to ask. "Um, what does _shorm_ mean? It doesn't mean mate, does it?"

Aximili's eyes sparkled. It was like he was smiling somehow, without a mouth. ((No, _shorm_ means tail-blade.))

"Tail-blade?"

((Yes, it means that if he was to do this,)) Aximili's tail-blade whipped to my throat and stopped centimeters from contact. I stepped back in alarm, the blade following my movement. ((I wouldn't even worry,)) he said softly, dropping the blade with a laugh. ((I apologize if I frightened you. I only meant to demonstrate.))

I decided that David was wrong. Aximili was not predictable.

((Mate?)) an incredulous voice asked. ((Seriously, _mate_?)) Tobias swooped down to a nearby branch. ((Come on! That's a bit more than disgusting.))

"I've seen some pretty weird things," I said defensively. "You never know."

((For one, Ax is my uncle. Two, we're not even close to the same species, no matter who my father was. Three, we're both guys. Not many hawks swing that way.)) He ruffled his feathers irritably.

((And four, I believe that Tobias has an attraction to Rachel.))

Tobias didn't say anything.

"Well?" I asked impatiently.

((Maybe,)) was all he said.

Our shift ended and Tobias and I woke up Rachel and April, hoping that they would get along. Tobias couldn't seem to think of anyone else that would be safe alone with her.


	6. Reality and Impossibilities

Chapter 6 

Tobias

I was flying when I got the update. Bad idea. You should never be flying when that much information suddenly enters your head. Luckily, I was riding thermals, so it wasn't as if I was doing any work.

CNN Breaking News! Ellimist has been playing with you guys again. He's gone and split your soul in two so you can save two universes at once. Even more, you've been proclaimed leader of the new groups _and_ you're going to go meet some Greek gods.

Was I flying and sleeping at the same time? Impossible, I remembered every detail of flying for the last hour.

So the only _logical_ explanation was that it had actually happened. I had woken Rachel up for her watch minutes earlier. Maybe she would have some answers. Then it occurred to me that Rachel was in school.

I landed on the school roof minutes later. ((Rachel, you in there?))

((Not anymore.)) An eagle swooped overhead.

((Um… I don't know how to say this but…))

((So it wasn't a dream,)) she said instantly, as if she had expected me to say something.

I swore loudly, and several people walking past the school jolted in surprise. One girl's eyes fell on me with an icy glare.

((Tobias,)) Rachel hissed. ((You're going to blow our cover! Fly now!))

I flew without a second thought, and as I passed off the roof, something resembling a brown bullet streaked past. Rachel was pretending to attack me.

I flapped hard and tried to let the bird's instinct take over. _We're being attacked, tell me what to do._

So I played passenger until all the people were safely out of sight, then pulled the instincts back under control. Sometimes I wonder if Cassie is right. Are we any better than the yeerks?

((You have to be careful,)) Rachel scolded. ((You can't just go around broadcasting your thoughts like that!))

I accepted her scolding. ((Sorry, I'm just a bit tweaked about having to fight two wars at once here.))

((Tell me about it,)) she said. ((Ellimist is really pushing it this time.))

I understood exactly what she meant, but… ((They're right, you know.))

((Who's right about what?))

((Those four,)) I said. ((If a bunch of gods just materialized here on earth, they would kill everyone. They would destroy any faith that anyone has. Things would be even worse than the way they were in those times, war running freely, people slaughtered without a second thought. It would be hell, or worse than hell.))

Rachel laughed. ((At least it wouldn't be a secret.))

I knew that she was just trying to lighten the mood, but it didn't make me feel much better. ((I don't know. Now that I think about it, I'm glad that the yeerks are so secretive. Could you imagine what it'd be like if everyone knew? There wouldn't be a grain of trust between anyone.))

((But they could save themselves if they knew,)) she argued.

I decided that this was not the time to start fighting with Rachel. ((Maybe.))

We flew in silence a while. ((I should demorph.))

((Yeah, you probably should,)) I agreed.

We landed near my meadow. Rachel demorphed and invited me to join her.

((No thanks,)) I said warily. ((You know how much I hate being grounded.))

"Tobias," she said firmly. "I always give up my human form to go flying with you. Are you trying to say that you won't do the same for me?"

I groaned inwardly. She was right, as usual. I fluttered down and morphed human. We walked a while towards the meadow.

I decided to ask the question that was nagging at my mind. "What's wrong with Cassie?"

Rachel looked at me in shock. "You don't know? How could you not know about Jake and Cassie?"

"Well, I knew that they liked each other but…"

"Cassie did the same thing I would do if someone killed you."

I thought about it a moment. It was a bold statement to make on her part. Was she saying that she liked me the way that Cassie liked Jake? It didn't matter, she was right. And… "And I'd do the same thing if someone killed you."

Silence.

"Did you feel it?" Rachel said solemnly.

"Feel what?"

"When we thought Jake was dead. There was… emptiness. Like now there was no hope at all."

"Jake has lead us since Elfangor crashed, probably even sooner than that," I said carefully, reminded of him stepping up when I was bullied. "When I thought he was gone… I don't know what I'd have done."

Rachel nodded. "I know. Could you imagine? If one of us was dead, how would the others live on? We couldn't keep fighting without Jake, he holds the whole group together."

She was right again. Jake was Ax's prince, Rachel's cousin, Marco's best friend and maybe… Cassie's boyfriend. What was he to me? A good friend. A leader. Someone who had saved my life more times than I can count, in and out of the war.

So Rachel and I casually detoured to Ax's scoop, in hopes that he would have a better idea of what was going on. As we entered, the sound of typing and scribbling on paper came to our ears. Sure enough, Ax was working frenzily at the computer, drawing diagrams on a paper nearby. He didn't seem to have noticed us coming in. I automatically compared myself to him, deciding that I would definitely have heard a couple of noisy humans coming in.

"Whacha workin' on Ax?" Rachel said, leaning over his blue shoulder delicately. A surprised stalk eye looked in her direction.

((Trying to figure out how a human could possibly start a fire without a way to create proper friction or any kind of energy for that matter.))

"Still a bit skeptical of Merlin?" I asked casually. It didn't sound as casual as I'd hoped.

Ax's stalk eye turned and focused on me. ((So it really did happen. I was concerned that I had been remembering things that did not happen.))

"I'm pretty sure it happened," I said. Ax stopped writing and turned all four eyes to survey the work.

((It is not possible, Tobias. I have gone over every possible explanation. Unless this human has surpassed andalite technology, there is absolutely no way he can start fire with no materials.))

"Unless it's magic," Rachel said with a grin, picking an apple out of a basket on the table. Ax didn't really need a dining table, but he loved to attempt cooking with materials he found or whatever we could smuggle from our homes. The apples were off of a tree in the hork-bajir valley.

((Magic?)) Ax asked incredulously. ((I didn't know that adult humans still believed in such things. Do you Rachel?))

"Yes," she said stubbornly, taking a bite of the apple.

((Magic is simply a word for things that are not understood.)) Ax reasoned. ((Surely you agree.))

"The idea that you can change things and make things happen with your mind isn't such a crazy thing."

((Matter does not bend to your will, Rachel. You should know that.))

"Coming from the alien who can morph."

((That is different.))

"Is it?"

Ax brushed her off by turning his stalk eyes back to his work. He didn't seem quite as sure of himself anymore though.

I opened my eyes. Wait a minute! My eyes had already been open. But now I had better vision. I started as I realized that I was in a tree. April's voice floated up to me.

"Tobias! We're leaving soon. I wanted to talk to you." She seemed a bit concerned that she was talking to the wrong bird as she looked left and right. I reassured her.

((What is it?)) Dawn was breaking. A ways to our right, I could see the clearing between the trees. A fire smoldered on the ground and Ax was stretching, but nobody else was around except the Sennites, all with certain degrees of first-aid done on them, waking up. I realized my mistake. ((Ax fell asleep.))

"I woke up early and relieved him. He has to sleep too. I actually wanted to talk to you about the guys."

I spread my wings and fluttered down to a low branch so she could talk more comfortably. She shuddered as I looked her in the eyes. ((Alright then, let's hear it.))

She hesitated a bit. "Well, I don't want you all getting into a major fight again. I kind of feel responsible for the last one."

((I doubt anyone blames you of all people.))

"I'm not sure… but anyway, I wanted you to be aware of the people you're dealing with. Jalil is very smart. He can analyze things from every angle, and he can work okay with others. Be careful of Christopher though, if he pisses Jalil off, all that intellectual stuff disappears. If it becomes an ego war, split them up ASAP." I nodded. "David and Christopher might end up going at it too, especially if Senna's brought up. Don't let it get that far. Interrupt them if they try to argue. They won't argue if there's something else important to do.

"David thinks he's a superhero, so try not to let him get himself killed. Christopher will probably take shots at everyone, ignore him. Jalil's pretty rational though, hence why I picked him for leader."

Was she teaching me how to use them? I wasn't sure, but I was glad I understood who I was working with now. I felt as if I had to return the favor. ((Thanks. Um… about your group…))

April smiled. She had known I would tell her. Not only did she want me to prevent fights, she wanted to know how to use her group.

((Cassie won't hurt anyone if she doesn't absolutely have to. Um… you got a really bad impression of her last night. She's actually really, really nice. Rachel… same as David, I guess. Like Marco says: she's Xena: Warrior Princess. Don't mess with her and don't let her get herself killed.))

She nodded approvingly, not hesitating to ask: "And Aximili?"

I had a sour taste in my mouth. April was not a person I liked very much. ((Ax will not work against you unless the girls decide to.)) I didn't want to tell her any more, and she understood.

"Thank-you Tobias. I suggest you speak to Jalil about what to do next. Merlin will take you to Olympus." With that, she turned on her heel and left. When I flew into the sky, Ax pointed a stalk eye my way.

((The others are out on the road. Care to help me take these prisoners to them?))

I morphed andalite and helped Ax shepherd the Sennites back to the place we had first appeared in Everworld. The others waited for us there. I demorphed.

"That is truly an amazing power, young one," Merlin commented.

((Thank-you,)) I said respectfully, remembering him conjuring fire out of nowhere.

"We'll be heading out now," Rachel said with a smile. Cassie hugged Jake before she began morphing a horse. I noticed that David stayed a ways back from both of them.

((Goodbye,)) I said to Rachel as she morphed eagle. We flew off in different directions, April, Cassie and Ax following Rachel. Marco, Jalil, Jake, David and Christopher were following me.

**A/N: So here's chapter six. Sorta boring, but the good stuff's a-coming, I promise. I do realize that I have a couple of errors near the beginning of the story, because I didn't have the books handy when I wrote those chapters. I hope to fix them eventually, but for now, please bear with me. And please REVIEW!**


	7. Going It Alone

Chapter 7

Christopher

"Oh, great," I said sarcastically. "Now we're following bird-boy? Jalil, I thought you were our leader too. Why's _he_ flying ahead?"

"You're right Christopher," Jalil said dryly. "Maybe I'll just spread my wings and fly even further ahead."

"Look though, even Merlin's further ahead than you! You suck at this leadership stuff." I made sure that Marco was in earshot for that one. The kid respected me and I wanted to keep it that way.

Jalil rolled his eyes and quickened his pace to catch up with Merlin. Marco grinned at me cleverly. "Bird-boy. You catch on fast."

I twitched mentally. What? Did he think that I was the one learning here? I raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"That's what I call him," Marco explained. "Bird-boy, Rachel's bird-friend. There's a lot of puns in that guy's life and I'm determined to find every last one."

I laughed. The kid had style, I had to admit. "What's the deal with him and the babe anyway?"

Marco flinched a bit. "Rachel and Tobias are into each other. I make a point of poking fun at Tobias in front of Rachel, but I wouldn't advise it unless you have balls of steel."

I laughed again. Man, he cracked me up. "A bit defensive is she? Is there absolutely no way that she'll go for anyone else?"

"Been working on it for eons," Marco said. "Not a freaking chance."

That was probably for the better. Sure, the chick was hot, but she didn't beat a half-elf princess. Etain would not appreciate it if I went around hitting on other chicks just because she was married. Still, I sensed that I could get a lot of fun out of bugging Rachel. Marco knew exactly what I was thinking.

"You may want to be careful around her," he warned. "I'm not even joking about that Amazon thing. She'll probably join them. She thinks she's Xena."

"She's no match for my charm," I said confidently. Marco shook his head.

"You've never seen her in grizzly morph."

I decided to ignore that statement. I didn't like the idea that these guys could change form at will like some bad T.V. show. It was a big deal, compared to our little swords. I shuddered, remembering how Tobias had so easily taken me down. I'd put up a fight, sure, but we no longer had the advantage that we'd had earlier: modern knowledge. These guys had almost as much street cred as we did, which was close to none.

"I'll warn you," I said wisely. I could totally do this mentor stuff. "The gods and goddesses, they're really stereotypes. Like Dionysis is a drunk, Ares is a hothead, Zeus is a man-slut and Athena's probably the only rational-thinking one there is. That's only because she's the goddess of wisdom though."

"What about Venus?" Marco asked.

"What?"

"'I'm your Venus, I'm your fire,' that Venus."

"You're talking Roman. I wouldn't advise hanging out with Roman gods. From our experience, they really like killing things in front of an audience. But if you're looking for fire, Aphrodite's pretty hot. Artemis isn't bad either, but she's big on refusing guys."

"I'll remember that," Marco said. I had a feeling that if he had paper, he'd be taking notes. "Any other chicks I should know about?"

"Here's a big deal: When a goddess walks into the room, look away. No matter how hot she is, she's likely going to do something bad to you."

Marco grinned.

"Not that kind of bad," I muttered. Jeez, did kids his age really think about that stuff? I tried to remember when I was his age, but I don't have a good memory. There was at least a two-year age difference between us, possibly three. Four was a bit of a stretch.

((Guys, there's a river coming up. I'm not exactly sure where you can cross it though, it's pretty wide.))

I started at the voice in my head. It would take me forever to get used to that. _It's the voices,_ I thought sarcastically. M_ake the voices stop._

Jalil nodded at Merlin. "What do you think we should do?"

Merlin cocked his head. "I don't remember a river."

((You wouldn't,)) Tobias said, ((It's new. It cuts right across the path. There must have been some flooding recently.))

"If it's new, it couldn't be that deep," David said.

Jalil gave him an 'are you retarded' look. "David, look at the ground we're walking on. We're talking a path, not a road." He ground his foot into the dirt to demonstrate. "If it's any kind of fast-moving water, the entire path would have washed away."

((Jalil's right,)) Tobias said. ((We're going to have to swim across or fly.))

Jake had been very quiet the whole time. Now he spoke up. "How strong is the current?"

((Humans wouldn't stand a chance.))

Jake contemplated this. "How about dolphins?"

((I don't know. Dolphins might be able to take it, but you'd be carried half a mile downstream before you finished morphing, not to mention the stuff you might hit on the way.))

Jake shook his head. "I'm all out of ideas."

We came up on the river. It was huge. At least twenty meters across, and I didn't have the slightest idea how deep. Considering the fact that it was carrying trees down it, pretty deep.

David swore. I took this opportunity to poke some fun.

"What? Both of our almighty leaders are out of ideas? I'm ashamed of you two."

"Shut up Christopher." Jalil.

"No. I will not shut up. Merlin, don't you have some magical spell that will carry us across?"

"I could, but it would consume much of my energy. If nothing else works, I will try, but I am still weak from my battle with Loki. I must warn you that failure would be much more likely than success."

"Where are those ugly bird things when you need them?" Jalil said quietly.

"So our almighty friends are totally powerless against a river?" I asked. "There's not a hope in hell against water? Water that we drink pre-breakfast? Water that we wash ourselves with?"

"Shut up Christopher," Jalil warned again.

"No, seriously. What's so horribly scary about water?"

"Shut up," Jake said. What, him too?

"Don't talk man, David beat your tiger ass."

"Yeah, and notice how Tobias almost took your head off?" Jake retorted angrily.

"Coming from the guy who's girlfriend had to save his life," I shot back.

Jake and I were almost at each other's throats when David stepped in. "Christopher, leave him alone."

"What, now you're on his side? I thought you were one of us. Don't forget that he attacked you."

Jalil tried to step in, and I called him a few names that he didn't enjoy being called, and we all were very close to tearing each other's heads off.

((Guys,)) Tobias said, voice wavering. ((We have to concentrate on our problem here.))

"Stay out of this, you stupid bird," I growled.

Tobias retaliated, ((Good idea Christopher, let's get everyone on the side against you.))

I whipped around, "What did you say?"

"He's right," Marco said, then turned his head to look up at Tobias. "Sorry, man. It's like looking in a mirror and not seeing my hot little self." He turned back to me. "Dude, you're taking this way too far. A little water… Well, water's stronger than it looks. And there wouldn't be an issue if we didn't have to carry your sorry butts across."

Jake looked down, seeming very ashamed of himself. David and Jalil backed off immediately.

"Do you have a problem with me?" I asked Marco, fully intending to defend my pride.

"Not at the moment," he said calmly, "But if you don't learn to stop being a jerk to your friends, I might find one."

All I'd been doing was poking a bit of fun. Why was everyone suddenly so agitated? I looked to Merlin for support. He was the only one who hadn't said anything. Maybe he was on my side. His arms were folded tightly across his chest and his face had a look of distaste on it. "The boy is right," he said firmly, "your friends are all you have."

I couldn't believe this. Suddenly, everyone was teaming up on me. "Screw you too," I said bitterly. They didn't want me around? Fine. I'd go live in that stupid dwarf castle or something.

I turned and stalked away, heading back the way we'd come. I heard Jalil's voice say, "Let him go."

Now that the decision had been made, there would be no going back. I'd sooner die than go crawling back to them. Though regret called out in the back of my head, my ego was too big to listen to it. "Let them go," I said bitterly, "I'll go find something else I can do to win this war. Maybe I'll go to fairyland." The thought sounded stupid from the moment it left my tongue. Fairyland? They hated me. I could go to Ireland, but that sounded stupid too. There wasn't much left there. I could go to the dwarves, but that wouldn't be of any help. Then it hit me. I could go to the Norse gods. Surely someone there would welcome my help.

So it was decided. I was heading north, or… whatever direction it was in Everworld.

**A/N: OH NO! Christopher's gone! What will they ever do without him:P Please review!**


	8. Kitten Is The New Merope

**A/N: Finally a longer chapter. Please review if you want to see more of this story. Please.**

Chapter 8

Aximili

((You have used up seventy-five percent of the time,)) I informed Cassie and Rachel. April leapt off Cassie's back for the third time that day and her and Rachel began to demorph. Rachel had been morphed as a wolf, helping me keep the Sennites well-behaved.

Rachel glared at the Sennites as she demorphed, commenting loudly, "I'm really regretting that I can't morph any more than minimal clothing right now." She looked straight at me, but I couldn't understand why she directed this comment at me. She sighed and jerked her head at the Sennites, who were staring at her body like she was a cinnamon bun.

I raised my tail and flicked my blade, skillfully reflecting the sun into each of their eyes. ((I believe that you are being rude,)) I said, proud to have come to such a human conclusion. It's strange, the things you become proud of when you're stranded on an alien planet. The Sennites did not remove their stare from Rachel.

"Ahem!" April made a noise as if something were caught in her throat. All four Sennites turned their heads away and acted as if nothing had happened. It angered me that each of them had not listened to me, but they listened to April. She just carried herself in such a way that demanded respect. It almost reminded me of Elfangor. I wasn't sure how a human could be so similar to an andalite at times and so different at others.

"Sorry April, but I think we need to walk a while," Cassie said. "I'm getting tired from morphing."

Rachel nodded, a sign of agreement. "Yeah, I kind of feel more comfortable in my own body."

"I can walk too," April said kindly. "It was nice of you to carry me, but I need to keep myself in shape too."

So that continued throughout the day. The Sennites spoke only quietly among themselves, saying nothing of any interest to me. (Maybe I'll admit that I did not understand some of it.) Mostly they spoke of affairs in the real world, guns, and occasionally, they spoke in excited tones about the humans known as Amazons. I decided that I would inquire about this group of people when we made camp, because the girls seemed to be enjoying speaking excitedly amongst themselves.

"I mean, I guess I did have Etain around for a little while, but it's so nice to have girls to talk to."

"Oh, I know," Rachel said. "If Cassie wasn't in the group, I don't know what I'd do. Even some times, no offense Cassie, I wish there was someone to talk to about the whole makeup thing. I mean morphing almost totally deletes your makeup into Z-space if you don't remember it."

April obviously didn't understand the concept of zero-space, but she still smiled and kept talking with them. I delighted myself by running back and forth at the back of the group, a trick I'd learned from television shows about dogs herding sheep. It was fascinating how humans managed to teach animals to do jobs that they could not do themselves. I had resolved to tell stories of this when I got back to the andalite home world. Perhaps it could be useful to us in different ways. Then I scolded myself for forgetting, _we have morphing technology, we do not need animals to do the jobs._

I held my tail high over my head as I ran, wavering it ever so slightly every time one of the Sennites looked at me. It was a little fun, teasing them like that. After a few more hours, the girls concluded that we should stop for the night.

"Okay, you four," Rachel said, taking charge of our prisoners. "There's a few rules around here. If you become too difficult to keep track of, we'll kill you. It's as simple as that. We've got enough food for only two more days, so don't hog it."

One of the men whistled. Rachel tensed with anger and shoved her face in his bravely. "What was that?"

He whistled again. "I'm sorry, perhaps you missed the part where I go grizzly and kill you."

"You don't scare me, bitch," the man said, raising his hand and striking Rachel across the face. Strangely enough, she did not recoil from the hit. Instead, she kept her face exactly where it was and pulled back her lips as if she were a snarling wolf.

"Do it again," she said dangerously. "I'd love an excuse to remove you from your pitiful existence."

The man was struggling to keep his expression indifferent. He did not try to strike her again though. Rachel seemed satisfied with this response and turned to retrieve the food that Jalil and I had cooked the night before.

As the Sennites ate, I decided to speak with the females. ((What are these creatures you refer to as Amazons?)) I asked.

The females exchanged glances. I wasn't exactly sure what their expressions meant. After a pause, April spoke up. "Well, Amazons were a legend in the real world. Nobody is sure if they were real or not, but basically, they were a group of women who believed themselves better than men."

I was confused. Of course, females were superior in some traits, such as intellectual capacity and mothering skills, but males were far superior in strength. I voiced my confusion.

"Ax, they're women who pretty much trained themselves day and night until they were at the peak of physical ability. They fought with swords even though men told them that they were not worthy of a sword," Cassie explained.

"More than that," Rachel said, "They were excellent fighters. They could beat any man at any given time, and they only let men into their society for reproduction, then killed them when they were no longer of any use to them."

It sounded as if Marco had been right. Amazons seemed like the kind of people that Rachel would love.

"So, you never did tell me why the Amazons are in Egypt," Cassie said. "Don't Egyptians have their own gods?"

April hesitated. "Truthfully, the Amazons aren't actually in Egypt anymore. The story is, Isis, Osiris, Ra and Set are all observers. They don't actually do anything but get their butts kissed anymore. Egyptian culture collapsed in on itself. The people are deformed, the Pharaohs have mental disorders, it's an all-over saddening place. The Amazons were looting the place when we showed up. They're not as great as you guys think they are. They kill the boy babies and sell off the weak girls to slavery. Killing is a sport." She had a solemn look in her eyes.

"We sort of screwed up their ruling of Egypt though," April said. "Senna's mom took the liberty of calling Merlin to come and take Senna away at the same time that Sobek, a minor god who had been in exile, decided to take Egypt for himself. Thanks to us."

"So we'll be welcomed in Egypt?" Cassie asked, "Because you helped Sobek, right?"

"Not a chance," April replied. "Sobek isn't a nice god. He's a crocodile, and that should explain his whole attitude. He doesn't want us to interfere. The Amazons are probably preying on the African religions right now, but we're going to see if we can find their trail outside of Egypt."

"Fair enough," Rachel said. "And what exactly do we want with that girl's mom?"

"We're going to talk to her because she's the gateway to the real world. She'll enable us to get whoever or whatever we need from there," she said.

Cassie and Rachel looked at each other. Neither of them had to be told what it was. Both knew instantly. They could get the Escafil device. They could give the others that power. Now that we had that option, did we want to use it? Things hadn't turned out well with David after all, what made these strangers different?

But I knew. I knew what made them different. All four of them were already fighting a war. They couldn't use the morphing power to be selfish when it had a greater cause. They couldn't turn on us because we had more experience. We could trust them, the question was, would we? The answer was up to me, Cassie and Rachel.

We started a fire and ate in silence, keeping an eye on the Sennites at all times. They didn't know what we wanted from them, and they didn't seem to care. All four looked like they were strong and able, but in their eyes was the look of a caged bird. They were trapped, but they refused to show their growing fear of us.

Out of the bushes walked a human female. I stood awkwardly and braced my tail muscles. She wore metal clothing and had a variety of primitive weapons strapped around her waist. On her hand she wore a crude, metal imitation of a feline's claws and on her feet, boots of cowhide that came up to her knees. On her head, she wore a hat fashioned from the head of a lion. "I am Kitten," she announced calmly. "Do not move or you will be killed."

April looked at her slowly, her whole body frozen. "Merope?" she questioned quietly.

Kitten narrowed her eyes. "You were with the witch," she said. "You are responsible for the death of Pretty Little Flower. Yes, I was called Merope before I was crowned queen."

April acted fast. "I apologise, Your Highness. The death of Pretty Little Flower must have been a great loss to you. I promise that we did not wish such a horrible fate to come upon her."

"Ah," Kitten said, "So you broke the dam on the Nile simply for your own amusement? You made a deal with the crocodile god."

April was beaten. Still, she spoke with hope that she would be redeemed. "We only agreed to break down the dam to get into Egypt because Sobek feared that Isis had forgotten him. We didn't intend for any Amazon to die."

"Spoken well," Kitten said. "But it does little more than lift my immediate desire to kill you. What is your purpose here?"

"We wish to speak with the Amazon's witch," April said.

"You may get your wish," Kitten replied. "It depends upon your intentions. Our witch almost abandoned us the last time she spoke to your group. Now we are forced to track down the Coo-Hatch. I do not wish that to happen again."

"It will not," April reassured.

Kitten turned her eyes on me. "And what manner of creature are you?" she asked. I was not sure whether to respond or not, so I kept quiet. "Are you centaur? You are similar, but that magnificent tail indicates otherwise." She indicated my tail casually. It was unusual, for humans were usually afraid of my tail.

I looked at Rachel. She was the person most similar to Prince Jake, perhaps she would know what to do. She made the decision for me. "He is andalite," she said bravely.

Kitten turned to face Rachel. "It does not speak. Is it a pet? Alien, obviously."

"He is not a pet," Rachel said.

"Then why does he not speak?" Kitten asked. Rachel looked at me pointedly.

((I do speak,)) I said to Kitten. A shocked expression crossed her face, but she did not move. Instead, she eyed me.

"It is muscular indeed," she said to Rachel. "Male or female?"

((I am male,)) I said. Before I could even think, Kitten's hand reached to her belt and produced a flying disc. It sliced past my shoulder, leaving a small gash where it had hit. The disc flew back to her and she caught it easily, as if it were a plastic disc that humans use to play with dogs.

"Do not speak to me unless invited," Kitten said firmly. Something about the fact that I was male had angered her. I understood better what the word 'Amazons' meant. I fell silent. These humans were trained amazingly well. Their bladed discs were faster than my tail. I understood their power now. "Are you also a witch?" Kitten asked Rachel casually.

"No," Rachel said.

"Then what do you call yourself?" She asked. "As my mother said, the woman fears me," she pointed at April. "She also fears me," she pointed at Cassie. "You do not fear me. Why?"

"Cassie and I are Animorphs," Rachel said.

"What does this mean?" Kitten asked.

In response, Rachel began morphing. She was clearly not interested in keeping the pleasant chat going. She almost doubled in size very quickly. In two minutes and forty-three seconds, she had become a grizzly bear.

"So you are a witch," Kitten concluded.

A voice spoke from behind her. "Your Highness, she is not a witch. In fact, I sense very little magic in her." A thin woman stepped from the bushes. She had long brown hair and deep blue eyes. She seemed very concerned. "Where is Senda?"

"Senna is dead," April blurted. A look of worry crossed the woman's face, so fake that even I could see through the human expression. She was relieved.

"How?" The woman asked.

"She tried to kill us," April said grimly. Everyone knew how her story would end. "She opened the gateway and brought a lot of…" she indicated the four Sennites. "Them."

Senna's mother closed her eyes. "You no longer have the witch's meddling to fear, and these mortals mean you no harm, Your Highness."

"Thank-you Anica." She turned to Rachel, refusing to speak with April. "What is the purpose of these men? Are they yours?" she demanded.

"No," Rachel said while she demorphed, her eyes flashing in a typical Rachel way. "These men are for you, should you find them of interest."

Kitten clasped her hands together in delight. "Eirica, Devera, take these men and inspect them."

Two more females, clad in the same armor as Kitten, stepped forward from the brush to my left. I noted that several small, glinting arrows protruded from the same bushes. They strode over to the men, laughing strongly. The men looked as if they were about to fall over in wonder. One stepped to greet the women bravely. "Hey baby."

He received five long gashes on his face from the metal claws. "Do not disrespect me man," she said. "I will ride you until you break." She had the same tone in her voice as Rachel. The men exchanged glances, some pleased and others worried. "Come with Devera," she said. "We will decide which of you will be honored tonight."

All Sennites seemed pleased with this. They followed eagerly.

When they disappeared, Kitten walked over to me and touched my cheek. I flinched in surprise, but resisted the immediate urge to step away.

"Ah… now I recognize you. Pretty Little Flower told stories of the hand-kissers. They are few in numbers, are they not?"

Few in numbers? ((Of course not!)) I exclaimed. ((There are billions of andalites in existence.))

Kitten looked at me with anger. She seemed to be offended by my correction. ((Your Highness,)) I added, remembering the human title for royalty.

"There are more andalites here?" Rachel asked incredulously.

"Ah, I keep forgetting that you are of the Old World. Yes. There are hand-kissers here. They are few in numbers for their gods created a newer universe and escaped Everworld with much of their kind. Some were left behind, and they ally themselves with Mother Sky and Father Deep."

I froze. More andalites? My brain raced. If there were other andalites here, what other creatures may exist here? The yeerks? But the thought of other andalites overwhelmed me. There were others of my kind. I would not be alone.

Cassie caught the fact that I had missed. "Mother Sky and Father Deep?" she asked.

Kitten nodded.

"Aren't those-"

"Hork-bajir gods," Rachel finished.

April was very confused. "Hork-bajir? Aren't they the ones you saved?"

"There must be yeerks here too," Rachel said. "If andalites are here, so are yeerks."

Everyone looked at me.

((Yeerks do not have religious beliefs that I know of,)) I said. ((There is a possibility, but a very slim one. Yeerks are a recent race. If it hadn't been for Seerow's Kindness, yeerks would have taken a great many more centuries, perhaps millenniums to breach their atmosphere.))

"The last thing I want to see here is yeerks," Cassie said. "Do you know of any brain-stealers?" she asked.

The human called Anica shook her head. "No. I don't think that there's such a thing in Everworld."

We breathed a sigh of relief. At least that was something we didn't have to worry about.


	9. Um Please?

Chapter 9

Marco

I felt bad that Christopher was gone. He had, after all, been a part of his group a long time. The absence of a member was always a difficult feat to overcome. Our group knew that all too well.

((Oh… hey, guys? Oh wow… wow…))

I looked up at Tobias. "What is it? Find another impossible feat we can use to tempt fate?" I said in a dramatic tone.

Jalil gave me a sideways look. Okay, it was cheezy, but you can't blame me. I had no time to come up with new material.

((You've gotta see this,)) Tobias said, awe in his voice.

"What is it?" David asked.

((I think… it's people. Yeah. People. Big people.))

I had already started morphing osprey. We wouldn't get a straight answer from Tobias the fortune cookie. A short while later, I had taken to the sky. In the distance, I saw what Tobias had been talking about.

((Oooookay,)) I said, ((This is the part where I wake up. Right. About. Now.))

"Marco, what is it?" Jake asked. He hadn't chosen to morph. Probably a good idea. We didn't want our buddies thinking that we'd abandon them.

((It's Zeus. _The _Zeus. Like off of the Hercules movie, except he doesn't have happy, rosy little cheeks. Tobias, how did you not notice this earlier?))

Jake pretended not to be surprised. Nobody else was, why should our magnificent leader be?

I was freaking surprised. I mean, not only was there a dude one hundred times bigger than me about a four-minute flight away, but he was duking it out with a giant water-dude. There was wind. There was storm. There was a lightning bolt snapping and popping IN THE HAND OF A GOD.

((There's more,)) Tobias said. ((There's a man made of water dueling it out with him.))

"Poseidon," Jalil and David said in unison.

Merlin shook his head. "Foolish to assume," he said. "Does the man of water have a beard?"

I examined the face of the second gigantic person. ((Yes. I think so.))

Merlin nodded. "Then you are correct, it is Zeus and Poseidon. Had you been incorrect and they were truly Jupiter and Neptune, there would be a far greater risk in approaching them. Zeus has more respect for me than he has for other mortals. As he may have more respect for you for saving Dionysis. Jupiter, however, disrespects all mortals the same. We may have a chance at resolving their issue."

I laughed. ((Yeah, sure. We're just going to go over there and solve a problem with two guys that could squish us between their toes? Do I hear the word in-sane?))

David nodded and stepped into the brush in the opposite direction of the water's current. Jalil stayed exactly where he was, and Jake and Merlin followed suit. I wondered why they wouldn't go. David came back seconds later, wondering the same thing.

"Are you coming?" he asked.

((You see, David,)) Tobias said in his firmest, I'm-a-leader voice. ((We do things differently than you.))

David shot him a questioning look. "How's that?"

((Our group likes to vote on a plan, so that we can't pin it on one person when it screws up.))

"Really?" David asked, surprised.

((Yeah. It's a really good system, actually. It seems as if you've already cast your vote, how about we check with everyone else?)) he said with a hint of sarcasm.

Jalil grinned. Tobias must've spoken to him privately earlier. I understood. They had to be leaders. They had to work together.

((Well, my vote is that we take our chances with the river,)) I said. ((I know nature. I don't know those two fellas.))

((Jalil?))

"I vote that we talk to the gods. Zeus will probably kill us, but it's better than tempting that river."

((Jake?))

"I don't know them. I won't vote," he said with a shrug.

((Nuh-uh,)) I said. ((I voted. You vote. That's how the rules go, you're not the leader anymore.))

Jake shook his head, grinning. "Jalil's putting his confidence in talking to them. I say we do what he thinks."

((Merlin, what do you think?)) I asked musingly. Really, Merlin.

"I have expressed my opinion of late," he said.

((In English please?)) I said privately to Tobias.

He chuckled. ((He already said that we stand a chance at fixing their problem.))

I was a bit disheartened that I was the only one thinking about taking the river. Tobias must have noticed. ((Hey, if it makes you feel any better, I was leaning to your side.))

((Funny,)) I said. ((We're the ones afraid of water.))

((We're the only ones that can see those gods.))

I agreed wholeheartedly. Not only were the gods huge, but I didn't doubt that Zeus could throw a mean lightning bolt. In fact, I was pretty confident that we would be more of an annoyance than anything.

Nonetheless, we headed in the direction of the gods. I stayed in morph, eager to be the first to know if a lightning bolt was coming our way.

Jake looked up at us worriedly. "Are you guys coming down?" he asked.

((I'd rather be up here where I can see what's going on,)) I said.

Jake looked forward. Zeus just must have been coming into view for him above the treeline. "Okay."

Tobias thought-spoke privately. ((He's right. We need to get down there. Up here we're completely useless against the storm they're making.))

I looked ahead at the flashing lightning, the pounding rain and the howling wind. I decided not to argue. ((Good idea,)) I said in the manliest high-pitched voice I could muster.

We dove to the ground just ahead of the group and demorphed (Tobias actually had to morph) as they caught up with us. Jake nodded subtly at Tobias. Even though he wasn't supposed to be a leader, he was still leading us. I wondered how long Tobias and Jalil would remain in charge.

As we neared the dueling Gods, we began to notice the havoc they were wreaking. Sections of trees were crushed on the ground, leaving massive footprints behind. As we emerged from the trees, we noticed buildings had also been destroyed during this battle. A fierce and booming voice vibrated from the water man.

"I told you brother, the ocean winds are MINE to control!" he said.

The other man responded in a thunderous voice. "Let me remind you that I control the sky! Father chose me, and therefore I will take control of your winds when I see fit!"

Honestly, it sounded like they were toddlers with a big vocabulary. That was about where the babyishness ended. Now that we were closer, I decided that both men were at least twenty times my size, and despite Rachel's teasing, I'm not _that_ short. Poseidon literally stood on the water and Zeus on the shore. Their fighting caused millions of gallons of water to flood the nearby river and raise the tide. Innocent people were running from a nearby village, carrying all that they could take.

By the time we were in that range, we were all officially soaked. My bare feet were torn up even worse now, and I was having greater difficulty avoiding mud.

"THE WINDS ARE MINE!"

"NOT ANYMORE!"

I shook involuntarily with the cold. "Who wants to do the talking?" I asked nervously.

Merlin took the opportunity. "MIGHTY ZEUS!" he roared over the rain, "GREAT POSIEDON!"

The men didn't even pause. Both continued to wrestle and punch without any change.

((GREAT GODS OF THE GREEKS!))

Both gods stopped what they were doing and turned their heads in the direction of the 'sound.' They couldn't seem to find it though.

Tobias had spoken. His meek human frame was also shuddering from the wet and cold and he was just as tired and scared as I was, yet the look on his face showed stubborn determination.

"Who dares speak to the gods?!" Zeus roared.

"I DO!" Tobias yelled back. Everyone looked slightly shocked with him.

Zeus focused his glare on us. "A MORTAL? MORTAL, YOU'D BEST STAY OUT OF AFFAIRES THAT DO NOT CONCERN YOU!"

Tobias was about to open his mouth when I saved him from himself by slapping a hand over it. This only brought Zeus' attention to me, however. I had nothing clever to say.

Merlin saved me. "MIGHTY ZEUS! We wish to reach the great Olympus, where we and our companion, General Davideus, will seek Athena."

Zeus cocked his head to one side as if he were confused. "General Davideus, General Davideus. Ah, yes. You saved my son, Dionysis. Very well, pass."

The water did a very good Moses impression and parted. We all exchanged glances and walked through the pass in silence.

"Go now to Athena," Zeus said. "You will be welcomed as guests in Olympus.

Tobias shot Jake a look. I knew what he meant. The people on the ground were going to lose their homes. They might die because of this pointless argument. I agreed in wishing that I could help, but what could we do? They were gods. GODS.

After all the weird things I've been through, this was the strangest by far.

"HEY YOU!" I shouted as the water closed behind us. Zeus turned his attention back to me. Why had I done that? I cursed myself for being such an idiot. Oh well, there was no getting out of it now. "I mean, ALMIGHTY ZEUS!" Oh god, what was I doing? I was going to get us killed. "Surely… Surely you and your brother have a good cause for being angry!" Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, "Um… but… Your people are getting hurt!" I pointed to the village of fleeing citizens meekly.

"A MORTAL HAS NO PLACE IN GODLY AFFAIRS." Poseidon said calmly.

The way he said it, it just plain pissed me off. I had participated in hundreds of battles and almost died about eighty percent of the time. I had been a T-freaking-Rex. There was no way this childish jerk was going to push me around. "SO MOVE YOUR GODLY ASSES DOWN THE ROAD SO YOU DON'T START INVOLVING MORTALS!" I screamed.

Poseidon looked shocked. Had we been fortunate, Zeus would have been shocked also and we could have pranced away in that time. But, as everyone knows, the Animorphs are not a fortunate people.

"Marco, you're an idiot," Jake said, absent-mindedly filling in for his cousin.

Let's just say that Zeus did not like my little speech.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY, MORTAL?" Zeus asked.

I couldn't help it. Seriously. A god had just shoved his own gigantic face in mine and demanded that I repeat myself. I was an inch from getting squished by his gigantic nose. I whimpered.

Tobias took several steps back from me, as well as Jalil. Well, it was good to know that my friends supported me. I suppose Jake opened his mouth to say something, but that never happened. A giant hand had picked me up and brought me to the level of Zeus, which must have been at least thirty meters higher than I enjoyed being in a human body.

"YOU DON'T SEEM SO TALKATIVE ANYMORE," Zeus laughed heartily. "WHAT IS IT HUMAN? HAS YOUR TONGUE BEEN CUT OFF?" Man, that guy really, really sucked at sarcasm.

I felt very, very awkward being in a battle situation as a human. Usually, I was a gorilla or a wolf. I didn't enjoy the idea of being little Marco in the hands of gigantic Zeus. Before I even thought, I had begun morphing. While I was screaming, of course.

((Marco! Marco shut up!))

"NO-I-WILL-NOT-SHUT-UP-TOBIAS!" I yelled as Zeus shook me back and forth and basically treated me as if I was a toy airplane that had just gone into the mayday phase of play. Diving as an osprey is fun. Diving as a human is not. "AAAHHHHHHHHH!"

((If you would shut up, you would hear Jalil yelling at you. He thinks you can acquire Zeus.))

"ARE YOU CRAZY!?"

((Your choice, if you'd rather be shaken to death, by all means have fun.))

I resolved to tell Tobias how much I hated his ability to not panic when my life was at stake. At least, if I lived. For the moment, I concentrated on Zeus. It was not hard, after all, his hand was right there around me. I was getting really dizzy and was about to barf when the shaking slowed. Zeus seemed very confused.

"Easy, big guy," I said as he put me down sleepily.

"What. What is… Poseidon thinks he owns the winds," he said in a quiet sort-of booming voice.

"Could you just, maybe, move down a couple hundred yards so that the people don't suffer?" I asked, hoping for a better result than the last.

"Yes, of course." Absent-mindedly, Zeus headed off down the shore, followed by a very surprised and confused brother.

Jake, Tobias, Jalil and David all burst out laughing. They didn't stop laughing for a very long time. Even Merlin chuckled a little bit. "A very astonishing display," he said.

I waited until they were done, then put my arm around Tobias. "So, buddy. What's the deal with being so calm while my hot little life is on the line?"

This time, Tobias filled in for her. "Marco, you're an idiot."

**A/N: Little bit of a fun chapter. I wonder what Marco will do with that Zeus morph. If you liked the chapter, hated the chapter or just feel like saying hi, please review!**


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